Items of apparel, especially sport clothing

ABSTRACT

The present sport clothing, for example ski pants and anoraks, is provided on its outer surface either in selected spots or all over with the brake elements in the form of surface roughening means such as spikes which are placed so as to provide a braking action when a fallen skier slides down a ski course. The surface roughening means or brake elements either are permanent parts of the fabric of which the sport garment is made or these means are removably attached to the garment.

United States Patent 1 Greiter 1451 Sept. 17, 1974 ITEMS OF APPAREL, ESPECIALLY SPORT CLOTHING [76] Inventor: Franz Johann Greiter,

Trogenerstrasse 1, Altstaetten, Switzerland 22 Filed: Jan. 21, 1972 21 Appl. NO.2 219,785

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 12, 1971 Austria 1202/71 Sept. 20, 1971 Austria 8127/71 [52] U.S.Cl. 2/79,2/227 [51] Int. Cl ..A4ld l/08 [58] Field of Search 2/79, 227, 24, 2.5, 2, 2/1, 161 R, 168, 167; 139/421; 36/25 A] [56] v I References Cited UNITED-STATES PATENTS 605,505 6/1898 Murray 2/161 R 1,179,871 4/1916 $1. 16116.... 1,666,686

4/1928 Chisholm 139/421 X 1,762,865 6/1930 Heinrich 2/168 1,789,798 l/l93l Wincland 2/24 2,187,430 l/l940 Olmsted ct a1... 2/168 2,650,365 9/1953 Singcr 2/161 R 2,657,391 11/1953 Crandon 2/l6l R 3,151,333 10/1964 Scholz 2/161 R 3,404,409 10/,1968 Till0tson et al. 2/161 R 3,500,477 3/1970 Mcszaros 2/161 R Primary ExaminerH. Hampton Hunter Attorney, Agent, or FirmWolfgang G. Fasse 57 ABSTRACT The present sport clothing, for example ski pants and anoraks, is provided on its outer surface either in selected spots or all over with the brake elements in the form of surface roughening means suchas spikes which are placed so as to provide a braking action when a fallen skier slides down a ski course. The surface roughening means or brake elements'either are permanent parts of the fabric of which the sport garment is made or these means are removably attached to the garment.

15 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 12 ITEMS OF APPAREL, ESPECIALLY SPORT CLOTHING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to items of apparel, especially sport clothing or sportswear, specifically winter sportswear, for instance pants, ski pants, mountaineers pants, anoraks, pullovers, and the like.

The dangers to which, for example, an athlete may be exposed by wearing modern, smooth surfaced winter sportswear in case of a fall on a prepared, smooth course, have been pointed out repeatedly. Smooth anoraks and outerpants, made mostly of synthetic fibers, have no brake action. This means that the person falling down slides off on the smooth course at considerable speed without encountering any halting action. The dangers in case of collisions with other skiers, trees, fences or the like at the occuring speeds are very great, especially if the falling person slides off headfirst.

Previously these dangers were not so predominant, since the courses were not so highly prepared and were therefore grippier and since the winter sportswear was generally not made of such extremely smooth material.

Not only winter sport athletes such as skiers, skibobsledders, tobogganers and bobsledders are exposed to these dangers but also mountaineers and hikers as they cross glaciers or perpetual snow fields.

To minimize the dangers of a fall, skiwear has already been produced with strips of a known so called stick closure material. Such material comprises textile strips with small barbs closely arranged thereon. Strips of this material, however, cannot prevent barbs sliding off on a smooth artifical course since the bars are soft and have no points directed outwardly and which therefore cannot develop any noteworthy braking action. Thus, an effective remedy to the mentioned dangers has not yet been disclosed heretofore.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing it is the aim of the invention to achieve the following objects singly or in combination;

to provide skidproof wear, especially sportswear, which in case of a fall on a smooth surface such as ice or artificial snow will develop a large braking action and prevent a slide off of the person falling or to slow him down so that he may find a hold by his own strenth; to provide a gripping action on the outer surface of apparel, especially sportswear, by means of spikes or a combination of spikes with rough surface means;

to employ such braking action enlarging means either as permanent or as removable elements of the fabric of which the apparel is made;

to provide overall, pants, jacekts or the like with braking action means; and

to combine braking means such as spikes with rough surface means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention there is provided an item of apparel, especially sport clothing made of a textile material, preferably a rough textile which comprises large surface brake elements which have a randomly increased, rough or roughened surface. The term textile as used here means any woven, knitted or otherwise produced fabric, including any suitable fabric made of metal wire threads or the like.

Brake elements with an arbitrarily enlarged, rough surface may preferably be produced according to the invention by covering the fabric of the garment at lesast in spots with spikes of suitable material such as plastics. These spikes may be thorns, similar to those used on track shoes or car tires. Preferably, these plastic spikes are applied to or on a rough fabric, since with a smooth fabric covered only in spots with spikes, the danger exists, that a falling person may slide off on a smooth area of his clothing and then experience a sudden braking action if a spot covered with spikes comes in contact with the ground. Such a sudden braking action involves the danger that the falling person may start to roll. Therefore the parts of the clothing not covered with spikes should also produce a certain braking action by means of a rough surface.

Another embodiment of the invention comprises brake elements of natural or synthetic rubber or other synthetic materials in the shape of plates or foils, which preferably have cylindrical or cone shaped protrusions. These protrusions, however, may also be shaped as frustums, pyramids, or sphere segments.

Preferred are also brake elements made of metal webbings. According to the invention metal webbings comprise not only woven fabrics but also all kinds of knitted materials which are made in part, as the brocades, or completely of metal threads. The metal threads may be wires of any desired cross-section, preferably non-circular cross-section, or of thin metal strips and may be totally of metal or they may have a central core covered with metal threads or tinsel, the latter including flat metal threads surrounding a textile core.

The term metal webbing asused herein therefore, does not only refer to brocade-like fabrics with a rough surface but also to industrial metal materials such as webbings or screen cloth with a coarse or roughened surface or pattern, similar to the metal scouring pads used in the household to clean pots.

The braking action of the metal materials as used according to the invention is increased by a rough terry cloth or towel like texture of the fabric. Thereby at least one of the metal threads, preferably one of noncircular cross-section, forms bows or burls, which project above the surface of the metal webbing.

In another embodiment of the sportswear according to the invention, textiles are used as braking elements having interwoven ,or pulled in threads or strips of natural or synthetic rubber which form bows or burls projecting above the surface.

BRIEF FIGURE DESCRIPTION In order that the invention may be clearly understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a winter sports outfit illustrated as so called overalls equipped with spikes as brake elements;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a base having spikes attached thereto;

FIG. 3 illustrates a sectional view through a coarse textile used as a base material;

FIG. 4 shows part of a brake element with several different projections;

FIG. 5 shows a winter sports outfit with detachable holders equipped with brake elements; and

FIG. 6 shows two examples of braking elements on a base material with interwoven loops of rubber threads or bands forming a terry cloth like appearance or a metal wire fabric secured to the base material whereby these examples of braking elements may be used singly or in combination.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a ski outfit A equipped with a brake element 1 attached in strip form along the outside of the trouser legs and along the outside of the sleeves, as well as the belt. The brake element 1 is studded with spikes 2. The spikes 2 which, according to FIG. 2 have a cylindrical body and a truncated cone-shaped upper part 2', are attached to the base material or webbing 1 by fusion. These spikes 2 are spaced from each other and arranged in staggered relationship.

All of these brake elements 1 can be inserted into the basic material of the sportswear A in the form of strips or patches or can be permanently applied to certain areas of the basic material. In this case, the brake elements 1 may be permanently joined, for instance by a sewn seam l0, riveting, gluing or vulcanizing, to the clothing, such as pants, jackets or overalls.

In many cases, however, it is preferable to apply the brake elements to the clothing at certain, specified areas only when necessary. Such a detachable connection of the braking elements to the garments can be accomplished, as is known for instance, with gripper strips 11, zippers or sliding fasteners, snap buttons or the like.

However, care must be taken that the connection between the brake element and the garment is strong enough so that it will not come apart by the pull on the brake element during braking action. However, since this pulling force depends among other things, on adherence of the brake element to the respective ground surface on which it lies in case of a fall and the weight of the wearer of the clothing, it cannot be precisely determined beforehand. Therefore, the connection between garment and brake element must be very strong. Such strong connection may cause difficulties in attaching as well as detaching a brake element.

It is therefore preferable to arrange the brake elements permanently on special holders or carriers or to make them as such carriers. The carrier is then attached to the sportswear in detachable fashion, whereby the above mentioned difficulties do not arise.

Such a holder carrier 7 may preferably be a pair of outer pants equipped with wide support straps 8 which, for instance, are worn over the ski clothing or over mountaineers pants. This embodiment combines the advantages of a detachable arrangement of the brake elements with that of a fixed attachment without having the disadvantages of both.

Such a pair of outer pants which for instance is provided with brake elements on certain areas or which is made as one whole brake element can, if necessary, for instance for skiing, be put on easily and can just as easily be taken off again.

Where synthetic or fusable spikes are used as a brake element they may be applied to the base fabric, or to the strips which are attached to the base fabric, by welding or gluing. A fabric or webbing used as a base can, for example, be heated by placing a hot metal plate underneath. The base of the spikes is pressed onto the heated base fabric whereby the base of the spikes melts. The molten mass thereby penetrates the fabric whereby parts of the threads are embedded in the molten mass. After cooling, the spikes are inseparably fused to the base fabric.

Should the base material be a foil, only the spots to each of which a spike is actually to be attached will be heated whereby the base material and spikes fuse to each other.

The part 2 of the spike 2 which penetrated the base 1 during the melting or fusing process is shown on the reverse side of the base material 1 somewhat exaggerated forclarity.

The preferred textile for the clothing according to this invention is a knitted fabric 3 in which the thread loops are gathered together in burls 4 or formations resembling burls by a special thread guidance. These burls 4 which could be described as textile spikes are arranged in rows. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the rows are staggered relative to each other. Even though the fabric hasan even surface appearance, it has the effect of a rough fabric. Fabrics of this kind are known as such.

This knitted fabric 3 may be advantageously connected to form a unit with a lining fabric 6 and an intermediate foam rubber layer 5 as shown in FIG. 3. Instead of a braking element all studded with spikes of the same kind, the braking element as shown in FIG. 4 may be used. The brake element 1 carries on a base material 1' elevations, protrusions, spikes 2 which may be of different shapes, several examples of which are illustrated in FIG. 4. These spikes may be made of synthetic materials or rubber and may be shaped, for example, as the known spikes used on auto tires. They may also be cone shaped, cylindrical or square shaped.

Cylindrical or square shaped spikes may have cone shaped or pyramid like points to achieve a greater braking action. Rounded shapes, such as semi-spheres, cup or calotte shapes or sections of rotation ellipsoids are also possible. The spikes may be constructed in two parts, whereby the main section projecting outwardly is joined to a counterpart located on the reverse side of the base material or webbing.

FIG. 5 illustrates a pair of outer pants constructed as a holder or carrier 7 for the braking elements. The outer pants are worn over the ski outfit A and are only worn while skiing. The carrier 7 is provided with suspender straps 8 which are widened over the shoulders. The outer or carrier pants are provided with brake elements 1 in various places which comprise spikes or other elevations or projections 2. For claritys sake the projections 2 are only shown in FIG. 5 in a few spots and not in the even, dense distribution which is necessary for an adquate braking action.

FIG. 6 shows a brake element 1 including a material or fabric 1' having a terry cloth appearance or surface structure. The bows or burls 12 may be formed, for example, by rubber threads or bands woven into the fabric. Such a terry cloth may itself form the brake element or it may be covered in selected areas by a metal wire fabric 13 constituting the brake element proper.

The brake element 1 as shown in the drawing may be made of metal fabric or webbing or they may be of another construction according to the invention and they may be applied to other areas or other garments in order to effect the greatest possible braking action. Appropraitely the elements 1 will be arranged so that the wearer of the sportswear will not be hindered or inconvenienced in his freedom of movement. Other advantages of the invention are seen in that the brake elements may be made in various colors, also with luminous paints or bright patterns and can in this way also achieve fashion effects. Accordingly, the spikes may be shaped as gemstones, as long as the braking action is retained.

Bright, vari-colored brake elements furthermore facilitate the search for accident victims. Electronic probing devices can track. avalanche victims covered under the snow more easily if brake elements of metal fabric are used.

Should the wearer of the skidproof garment of the invention fall on a ski course or for instance'on a perpetual snowfield, the sliding off is greatly impeded, or slowed to such an extent by the brake elements that stopping or holding is made possible.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it is to be understood that it is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A skidproof sports garment, especially ski wear, comprising a fabric base material with predetermined areas, skid preventing brake means located in said predetermined areas, said brake means comprising a plurality of individual brake elements in the form of protruding spikes made of fusable material each of which has a surface enlarging shape such that the combined surface area of all brake elements is substantially larger than said predetermined areas, and welded connections penetrating through said fabric base material for individually securing each brake element to said areas of the fabric base material with spacings between adjacent brake elements, said surface enlarging shape in combination with said spacings providing a rough overall surface, said individual brake elements having sufficient rigidity and protruding above said predetermined areas so that each brake element may penetrate individually into an ice or snow surface whereby the individual penetrations combine into a concerted braking action when the wearer falls.

2. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 1, wherein said fabric base material itself comprises burls on its surface which enhance the braking action of said braking elements.

3. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 1, wherein said individual braking elements are made of synthetic materials.

4. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 1, wherein said individual braking elements comprise a predetermined shape so that the spacing between adjacent braking elements increases from said base material to the top of the braking elements whereby clogging of the spacings with snow or ice is diminished.

5. The sports garment according to claim 1, further comprising means for inserting said fabric base material with the brake elements secured thereto, into the sports garment proper at said predetermined areas.

6. The sports garment according to claim 1, wherein said individual braking elements are colored, especially with luminous color.

7. A skidproof sports garment, especially ski wear, comprising a fabric material with predetermined areas, skid preventing brake means located in said predetermined areas, said brake means comprising a base structure, a plurality of individual protruding brake elements each of which has a surface enlarging shape such that the combined surface area of all brake elements is substantially larger than said predetermined area, means for individually securing each brake element to said base structure with spacings between the individual brake elements, means for attaching said base structure to said fabric material in said predetermined areas, said individual brake elements having sufficient rigidity and protruding above said base structure so that each brake element may penetrate individually into an ice or snow surface whereby the individual penetrations combine into concerted braking action when the wearer falls, and wherein said sports garment is formed as overalls comprising broad suspender straps forming said base structure to which said individual brake elements are secured.

8. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 7, wherein said means for attaching said suspender straps to said fabric material are releasable connecting means which may be closed again.

9. A skidproof ski garment in the form of ski jacekts, ski overalls, and ski trousers, comprising a fabric base material with predetermined areas, skid preventing brake means located in said predetermined areas, said skid preventing brake means comprising a support means and a plurality of individual spikes protruding from and above said support means in said areas, means individually securing said spikes to said support means, and means connecting said support means to said predetermined areas of the fabric base material, said spikes having spacings between adjacent spikes, each of said spikes having sufficient rigidity for individuallypenetrating into an ice or snow surface whereby the individual penetrations combine into a concerted braking action when the wearer falls.

10. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said spikes are of synthetic plastics material welded to said support means.

11. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said spikes have a body portion secured to said support means and a cone shaped tip at the free end of said body portion.

12. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said spikes are individually glued to said support means.

13. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said support means is a flexible, elastically yielding patch to which the individual spikes are fused.

with luminous color. 

1. A skidproof sports garment, especially ski wear, comprising a fabric base material with predetermined areas, skid preventing brake means located in said predetermined areas, said brake means comprising a plurality of individual brake elements in the form of protruding spikes made of fusable material each of which has a surface enlarging shape such that the combined surface area of all brake elements is substantiaLly larger than said predetermined areas, and welded connections penetrating through said fabric base material for individually securing each brake element to said areas of the fabric base material with spacings between adjacent brake elements, said surface enlarging shape in combination with said spacings providing a rough overall surface, said individual brake elements having sufficient rigidity and protruding above said predetermined areas so that each brake element may penetrate individually into an ice or snow surface whereby the individual penetrations combine into a concerted braking action when the wearer falls.
 2. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 1, wherein said fabric base material itself comprises burls on its surface which enhance the braking action of said braking elements.
 3. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 1, wherein said individual braking elements are made of synthetic materials.
 4. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 1, wherein said individual braking elements comprise a predetermined shape so that the spacing between adjacent braking elements increases from said base material to the top of the braking elements whereby clogging of the spacings with snow or ice is diminished.
 5. The sports garment according to claim 1, further comprising means for inserting said fabric base material with the brake elements secured thereto, into the sports garment proper at said predetermined areas.
 6. The sports garment according to claim 1, wherein said individual braking elements are colored, especially with luminous color.
 7. A skidproof sports garment, especially ski wear, comprising a fabric material with predetermined areas, skid preventing brake means located in said predetermined areas, said brake means comprising a base structure, a plurality of individual protruding brake elements each of which has a surface enlarging shape such that the combined surface area of all brake elements is substantially larger than said predetermined area, means for individually securing each brake element to said base structure with spacings between the individual brake elements, means for attaching said base structure to said fabric material in said predetermined areas, said individual brake elements having sufficient rigidity and protruding above said base structure so that each brake element may penetrate individually into an ice or snow surface whereby the individual penetrations combine into concerted braking action when the wearer falls, and wherein said sports garment is formed as overalls comprising broad suspender straps forming said base structure to which said individual brake elements are secured.
 8. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 7, wherein said means for attaching said suspender straps to said fabric material are releasable connecting means which may be closed again.
 9. A skidproof ski garment in the form of ski jacekts, ski overalls, and ski trousers, comprising a fabric base material with predetermined areas, skid preventing brake means located in said predetermined areas, said skid preventing brake means comprising a support means and a plurality of individual spikes protruding from and above said support means in said areas, means individually securing said spikes to said support means, and means connecting said support means to said predetermined areas of the fabric base material, said spikes having spacings between adjacent spikes, each of said spikes having sufficient rigidity for individually penetrating into an ice or snow surface whereby the individual penetrations combine into a concerted braking action when the wearer falls.
 10. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said spikes are of synthetic plastics material welded to said support means.
 11. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said spikes have a body portion secured to said support means and a cone shaped tip at the free end of said body portion.
 12. The skidproof sPorts garment according to claim 9, wherein said spikes are individually glued to said support means.
 13. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said support means is a flexible, elastically yielding patch to which the individual spikes are fused.
 14. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said individual spikes form an integral part of said patch.
 15. The skidproof sports garment according to claim 9, wherein said individual spikes are colored, especially with luminous color. 